Admissions Trends and Application Insights: Exploring the Challenges of Collegiate Athletes in Medical School Admissions (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Student-athletes have unique challenges in preparing for medical school. Despite excelling in clinical settings like emergency medicine and orthopedics, they are underrepresented in admissions, and mentorship programs struggle to work with their rigorous schedules, which may impact and weaken their medical school applications. Analyzing AAMC data may reveal these weaknesses and assist mentorship programs in their advisement of student athletes. Improving support for athlete applicants will reduce disparities and overcome their unique challenges in medical school admissions. OBJECTIVE Primary Objective: Between 2018 and 2022, we aim to compare the matriculation rates of athletes versus non-athletes who applied to United States medical schools through the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Secondary Objectives: To determine in what experiences of the AAMC application process do athlete medical school applicants have significantly less performance in. To determine the demographic breakdown of athlete medical school applicants. To determine the prevalence of athletes matriculating into medical school between application cycles 2018-2022. To assess for any factors influencing (positively or negatively) the matriculation rate of athlete applicants. Through answering these objectives, we can learn more about the specific needs of athletes aspiring to become future physicians. METHODS This study retrospectively reviewed 276,858 AAMC medical school applicants from 2018 to 2022, analyzing demographic information, acceptance metrics, and extracurricular activities. 28,722 athletes were identified based on participation in at least one season. Statistical tests compared application parameters between athlete and non-athlete groups and matriculated vs non-matriculated groups. RESULTS Athletes had higher acceptance and matriculation rates compared to non-athletes and engaged more frequently in several extracurriculars. Matriculated athletes boasted higher GPAs (3.71 vs 3.52, P<.001) and MCAT scores (511.7 vs 503.0, P<.001) compared to non-matriculated athletes. Matriculated athletes were also more frequently engaged in community service, research, teaching, and shadowing compared to non-matriculated athletes (P<.001 for all). However, they participated less in medical and non-medical employment (P<.001, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Engaging in intercollegiate athletics is a positive indicator for matriculating into medical school. However, it is but one element that factors into applications. Mentorship programs assisting athletes should focus on helping improve an applicant’s GPA and MCAT score while providing opportunities for athletes to engage in community service, research, teaching, and shadowing.